Lean On Me
by Watermelon-Lover853
Summary: AU fiction. Marie Gautier works at a music studio. Follow her life through her English landlord, her Belgian boss, her Canadian secretary, her Hungarian friend, her Taiwanese coworker, her Vietnamese coworker, her German coworker, and of course, the Spanish, French, and Prussian pervs.
1. Chapter 1

"Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope."

― Dr. Seuss

Marie yawned as she stretched and got up from her bed. Time for another day at work. She got dressed in her usual blouse and shirt, grabbing her jacket and a waffle. As Marie walked out of her apartment, she locked the door and pushed the elevator button. She had always liked doing that. Marie sighed as the _slow _elevator was the one that came. She got in and after what she estimated to be a minute, the elevator stopped at the next floor. A man whose name she didn't know stepped in. She had seen him around the building all the time, but never had a conversation with him. They exchanged polite nods and waited for the elevator to finally reach the lobby. Their hopes were shattered when it stopped at the next floor down. Laughter could be heard and both Marie and the man had pained expressions. That laugh was all to familiar, it belonged to a very annoying 'Prussian' man. Marie scooted to a corner of the elevator, partly to make room and partly to escape the trio. Gilbert, Antonio, and Francis walked in to the elevator and, once they saw her, smiled. She realized that in her position they could corner her, but knew that they would be too scared after what Elizaveta did last time.

"Hey Marie, how are ya?" Gilbert asked.

"I am fine, thank you. You?" Marie politely answered, even though she knew the answer.

"AWESOME!" Gilbert explained, causing Marie and the man from earlier to wince. Gilbert turned to the man and observed him.

"May I help you?" the man asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, Roderich, you can't. Wait, maybe if you lost that prissy attitude. Yeah, now that I think about it, just stop existing. Or better yet, make it so you would have never existed," Gilbert replied. The name Roderich sounded familiar. Oh that's right, Roderich was Elizaveta's boyfriend.

"You're just jealous," Roderich said coolly.

"Why would I be jealous of you? Because you can play the piano with your eyes closed?" Gilbert asked.

"No, everybody with at least an ounce of talent can do that. You could be jealous because, hmm, Elizaveta hates you, yet you don't feel the same way," Roderich snapped back. By the evil glint in Gilbert's eyes, Marie could tell Roderich had gone too far. Gilbert was about to punch Roderich when the elevator door opened and the landlord, Arthur stepped in. Gilbert immediately stepped back next to Francis and Antonio, who waved at Arthur. Arthur did not return the favor, but turned to Marie.

"Marie, hello. How are you,?" Arthur asked.

"She is fine," Antonio muttered. Arthur turned and glared at him.

"Did I ask you? No! Marie is capable of answering herself!" Arthur exclaimed. He then straightened his tie and turned back to Marie.

"I'm...okay, you?" Marie asked, avoiding the word 'fine.'

"I'm quite well, thank you. There are some letters for you in the lobby. There were some for you too Francis, but I accidentally dropped them into the shredder. Oh, and a package for you, Roderich," Arthur informed us. By the look on Francis's face, he didn't like that.

"What! But, what if that was important," he asked.

"Oops, it seems to be that I forgot to care, Mr. Bonnefoy. You need to pay this month's rent, by the way," came the bitter reply. Francis handed him a check.

"Haha, funny joke, but it seems that I forgot to laugh," Francis said with the same bitterness and stormed out of the now open elevator doors. Antonio and Gilbert followed immediately. Roderich left and Arthur made sure it stayed open.

"After you," he said, being a gentleman.

"Thank you," Marie replied, stepping out with Arthur right behind her.

Marie arrived at work 5 minutes early, as usual. She unlocked the door to the studio with her new key and put her stuff in a locker in the back. She walked back out and saw some flowers on the doorstep. Confused, she walked over and opened the door, picking them up. They were livingstone daisies, one of her favorites. She checked to see if there was a note and saw one.

_Dear Marie,_

_I hope that you enjoy these flowers from me._

The writing was familiar, but she couldn't remember whose it was. She put them in a vase an pocketed the note. Just then, her boss, Laura, walked in calmly.

"Oh hey Marie, what's up with the flowers?" Laura asked.

"Oh, I found them outside the door," Marie replied.

"They for you?" Laura questioned.

"Yeah. So, is your brother coming today?" Marie changed the subject as quickly as possible.

"Nah, he doesn't technically get paid so he doesn't like to come in," Laura responded, leaving to put her stuff in a locker. When she got back, Marie opened the door for Mathew. They all worked at the music studio called _Beat To It_. Marie was the agent, Laura was the manager, and oddly Mathew was the secretary. Mathew left to put his stuff in the locker room and the phone rang. Marie decided to answer it for him.

"Hello, this is Marie at _Beat To It_, how may I help you?" Marie asked.

"Hi, last month I ordered a sycamore guitar and you said it should be there by now. Should I come and pick it up?" asked a voice.

"Just a second, I'll check the inventory room," Marie said and put the phone down.

"Who was it?" Laura asked.

"A customer who ordered a sycamore guitar. Do you know if we have it in the inventory?" Marie asked.

"Yeah, it came in yesterday right after you left," Laura responded helpfully. Marie picked up the phone and held it up to her ear.

"Yes, we have your guitar in our inventory. You can come and pick it up whenever is convenient, but we close at 6," she said.

"Okay. And can I place another order?" the customer asked.

"Of course," Marie said.

"I need some sycamore drumsticks and a sycamore-looking guitar picks," The customer said.

"Okay. Those will probably be ready in a week, well the drumsticks. I might find them and the guitar pick in the inventory though by the time you come. If you would share your phone number I can call if I find them," Marie said, looking for a pen and paper but found only a 'Prussian blue' Crayola crayon and half of a coupon for a free pizza at the new restaurant: _Vargas 2_.

"780-1234," the customer supplied.

"Thank you," Marie said, writing the customer order and sticking it over with all the rest of the phone numbers left in the past month. Mathew walked out of the locker room just as she put the phone down.

"I'll go and check the inventory," Marie said.

"Hey! I found those purple drumsticks someone wanted!" Laura yelled, walking out of the inventory room with them in hand. Mathew started looking through the pile and raised an eyebrow when he saw the most recent one.

"Interesting," he muttered, "Here! I found the number!" Mathew yelled triumphantly and called it right away. The phone rang right after he greeted the person.

"Please hold," Mathew said, answering the next call. "Hello, this is Mathew at _Beat To It_, how may I help you?" he asked.

"Oh hello, may I speak to Marie?" came the reply.

"Okay, let me forward the call to her phone," Mathew said, shooing Marie away. She picked up the phone in her neat, mini office.

"Hello, this is Marie at _Beat To It_, how may I help you?" Marie answered.

"Hey Marie! It's Lizzie! We should go shopping at your lunch break!" Lizzie cheered happily.

"Lizzie, my lunch break is ten minutes to go and get three bagels and coffee across the street," Marie explained, rubbing her forehead.

"But wha- wait, you have ten minutes to go buy bagels and coffee across the street? That long?" Lizzie asked, distracted.

"That place gets a lot of business, okay?" Marie said.

"Anyways, if I talked to Laura maybe we could go with her!" Lizzie exclaimed.

"Sure, do you want me to go get her?" Marie asked.

"No need, I'm right outside," Lizzie replied. Sure enough, the little bell rang signifying someone came in. Marie looked over to confirm that it was indeed Lizzie. She walked over to Laura and started chatting. She saw Laura nod and Lizzie jump in joy. She walked out and grabbed her wallet while Laura and Lizzie did the same.

"Hey Mattie, can you watch the studio while we go shopping?" Laura asked with puppy dog eyes.

"Under two conditions. One, bring me a bagel and coffee. Two, I get to leave work early," Mathew said, giving in.

"Wow Mattie, hurtful, I thought you liked us more thank that. But yeah, whatever, thanks bye!" Laura rushed and dragged them out. Mathew sighed and returned to his work.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry I forgot to do this last chapter. In case you were wondering...**

**Marie: Monaco**

**Laura: Belgium  
Elizaveta/Lizzie: Hungary**

**I think that that would clear the confusion**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia— Axis Powers**

"Imagination is more important than knowledge"-Albert Einstein

"Oh my gosh, so this store is having a huge sale! And they have adorable dresses! You guys should get some!" Lizzie cheered, dragging Marie and Laura into a store that smelled strangely of lollipops.

"Lizzie, all of these dresses are...dressy," Laura complained.

"Well no duh Laura, they're dresses," Lizzie stated sarcastically, looking at Laura as if she was a crime to humanity. She got some dresses and tried them on. Liking them, she bought all three.

"Wow Lizzie, that's a lot of money," Laura muttered, looking at the receipt.

"Yeah. Come on, your turn to choose a shop Laura!" Lizzie exclaimed in her usual cheery manner. Laura took them to a place with things like pots, pans, and cookie mixes.

"Hey Lizzie, you should get this," Laura said, holding up a frying pan. Lizzie tentatively took it and weighed it in her hands.

"Nice," she said, swinging it like a baseball bat.

"Woah there Lizzie, caution," Marie teased. Lizzie stuck out her tongue and walked over to the cash register. She reached for her wallet.

"Hey Marie, I only have $5.00, could you please pay for me?" Lizzie asked. Marie walked over, handed her a $10.00 bill and sighed.

"You owe me $10.00 now," Marie said. Laura bought a waffle maker, which she could in no way need because she had five already, and Marie bought some cute cookie cutters shaped like animals.

"Marie, you next," Lizzie said.

"Can I choose two?" Marie asked.

"As long as they both aren't boring!" Lizzie replied. Marie led them off to a book store.

"Here?" Laura asked, looking around Marie simply nodded, already looking at a book.

"No, that one looks boring," Lizzie said, pointing to the book in Marie's hands.

"Read," Marie demanding, showing Lizzie the summary. Lizzie grabbed a copy and nodded.

"Okay, I have all I need. Let's go!" Lizzie yelled.

"No," Marie stated, picking another book and previewing it.

"Fine! Come on Laura, let's go look at a different section," Lizzie said. They walked away and Marie looked around.

"Hmm..." she muttered, shrugging and looking at some more books. When she had found all her money would buy her, 10 books, she set off to find her friends. She found them intently staring, sitting at a table.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked, setting her books down.

"What did you do, buy some encyclopedias? We're having a staring contest," Lizzie said, eyes not moving. Marie looked at who they were competing against. She saw Gilbert and Francis and faintly wondered where Antonio was, but ignored it. She sat down and grabbed a random book from her pile, seeing it was The Count Of Monte Cristo. Marie started reading until she heard cheering and she glanced at the page number and closed the book.

"Ready to go?" Marie asked, grabbing her pile.

"Sure," Laura said. They left, after Marie payed, and they headed for Marie's next stop. They walked into a frozen yogurt shop.

"Good choice!" Lizzie cheered. They left after getting four frozen yogurts, Laura suggested getting one for Mathew, and headed for Lizzie's car. After a while they reached the studio. Mathew was talking to a customer who was holding the sycamore guitar, and drumsticks, but no guitar pick. She left and Mathew raised an eyebrow at them.

"No coffee or bagel?" he asked.

"No, but we got you frozen yogurt!" Laura said happily. Mathew looked at the frozen yogurt like it was tempting, then he grabbed it.

"Thanks," he said, setting on his desk.

"You're welcome!" Laura said.

"Well, I'm going to go get out an order," Mathew said, leaving for the inventory room. Marie walked over to her office, but Lizzie stayed.

"You staying forever?" Laura teased her.

"I'm watching you!" Lizzie said suspiciously. Laura looked confused and walked into her own office. The little bell rang signifying that someone came in. Mathew looked out from the inventory room and saw Gilbert. He sighed and walked out of the room.

"Need anything?" he asked Gilbert.

"Yeah, I ordered an electric guitar with the Prussian flag on it. You have it yet?" he responded.

"Uh, let me check," Mathew said, walking back into the inventory room. Laura walked out of her office.

"Hey Mathew, did you call tha- what are you doing here?" she questioned.

"Being awesome. But I do that everywhere so ha ha!" Gilbert cheered. Laura rolled her eyes and walked into the inventory room. She and Mathew came out a moment later, Laura holding the guitar. She handed it to Gilbert and he grabbed it.

"Don't go touching my awesome guitar!" he yelled, handing Mathew a $50.00 bill and storming out. Mathew walked over to his desk and Laura went into her office.

Marie grabbed her possessions and Mathew looked over at her.

"Need a ride?" he asked, noticing that she didn't have her car.

"No, I can walk," Marie replied.

"Marie. It's 7:00 on a Friday night, and it's almost pitch black. You really want to walk?" Mathew asked.

"No, not really," Marie admitted.

"Didn't think so. Come on," Mathew said, grabbing his keys and locking the door behind them. They got into Mathew's car and he headed to her apartment building. Once they got there, she thanked him and got out, walking into the dark lobby. Arthur looked up from the front desk and waved.

"Marie, you forgot about the letters," he said.

"Oh, sorry," Marie said, grabbing them and walking away. She was sad when she saw that Francis was there, having already pushed the button. He looked over at her and smiled. She switched the bag of books to her right hand. The fast elevator came and both relaxed, sighing in relief. They both pushed their floor buttons: 2 and 3. She was relieved when the small ding sounded and Francis stepped out, but then Antonio stepped in and, just like that, she tensed up again. She knew that his apartment was right next to hers, so she should be used to him, but she wasn't.

"Hi!" he said happily.

"Hello," Marie replied. Antonio looked like he wanted to say something else, but didn't. When the ding occurred, they walked out and into their apartments. When Marie walked into her apartment, her cell-phone beeped. She saw that the most recent message was from Lizzie.

_Hey, we need to talk. Meet me for lunch tomorrow. Your day off, right?_

Marie replied:

_Okay, I'll come. Yeah._

Marie got the note out of her pocket and read it again. She tried to think who wrote it, but gave up after coming up with no one other than Arthur who it might be. She knew it wasn't him, so she got into an oversized tee-shirt and some pajama pants and got in bed, turning on the television and grabbed some strawberry yogurt, getting comfortable.

Marie woke up to loud laughing. She glanced at her digital clock and saw it was 5:30 A.M. There was probably a party all night. She got dressed and poured some cereal. When she was finished, she stretched and, grabbing her messenger bag, walked out of her apartment to go get some coffee. When, again, it was the slow elevator that came she sighed and walked in, finding, much to her displeasure, that Gilbert, Francis, Antonio, and Arthur were all in there. Arthur looked over.

"Ah hello, Miss Gautier. How are you?"

"Fine, thank you," Marie said.

"Are you going to work on a weekend?" Antonio asked.

"No, I'm going to get some coffee," Marie responded.

"Francis, you have some mail in the lobby," Arthur said. To Marie, it seemed as though that was all he ever talked about.

"Oh, didn't drop it this time?" Francis asked.

"Actually, I did. Just not into a shredder," Arthur replied, smirking.

"Wait, that did you drop it into?" Francis questioned.

"Tea," Arthur said.

"Oh that's it, you tea-smelling jerk!" Francis said.

"You think I smell like tea? How nice of you!" Arthur mocked.

"Well, I smell better than you!" Francis yelled.

"You think that cigarette smoke is better than tea?" Arthur yelled. Francis, Antonio, and Gilbert gasped.

"Cigarette smoke!" Francis yelled.

"Yeah, cigarette smoke!" Arthur yelled, walking out of the elevator as it stopped at the next floor.

"Do I really smell like cigarette smoke?" Francis asked.

"Yeah," Gilbert responded.

"Little bit," Antonio added.

"Well then!" Francis said, turning his back to them. That meant that he was facing Marie.

"So, seen any good commercials lately?" he asked her.

"Well, there was this one for sour cream," Marie said.

"You mean the Daisy one?" Antonio asked.

"Yeah," Marie replied.

"See! I told you that that commercial was good! You owe me $10.00!" Antonio said. Gilbert sighed and handed him the money. Then the elevator 'ding'ed and the trio walked out of the elevator, leaving Marie. When she got to the lobby, she exited the elevator and got tackled into a hug. By the brown hair all over, Marie guessed that it was Lizzie.

"Lizzie, you okay?" Marie asked.

"Yup!" Lizzie piped, getting up and holding out a hand to Marie, who took it.

"Thanks. So, I thought we were meeting for lunch," Marie said, standing up with Lizzie's help.

"We _were_, but I got bored!" Lizzie said. She pulled Marie over to the elevator, and Marie sighed at the forgotten coffee. She could just make some in her apartment. Lizzie let Marie press the button, knowing how much she liked it. They patiently waited for the elevator to come, and the slow one came.

"What is with the slow elevator?" Marie muttered. They saw, somehow, everybody from before arguing yet again.

"You know what would do this place good?" Lizzie asked, stepping in.

"Hmm?" Marie asked.

"Stairs," was the simple reply. Marie nodded in agreement as she followed Lizzie in. Once Gilbert saw them, he smiled.

"Hey Lizzie, how are you?" he said.

"Watch it," Lizzie warned, holding her frying pan, which Marie just realized she had, threateningly.

"Hello Elizaveta," Roderich greeted with a small smile.

"Hi!" Lizzie chirped, turning towards me. Gilbert glared at Roderich, who smirked in return.

"Um Lizzie, why did you bring a frying pan?" Marie asked.

"Well, maybe we could make cookies with those cookie-cutters you bought," Lizzie suggested.

"Yeah, but- never mind," Marie sighed. The elevator stopped after a while, with a 'ding', and Roderich got out. There was another 'ding' and everybody exchanged looks before scrambling to get out. Lizzie and Marie got out and Lizzie pushed Gilbert back, with him running into everybody else. Marie and Lizzie made it to the fast elevator and sighed in relief, pushing the 3 button.

**A/N: You may be thinking, although I seriously doubt it, 'But Roderich, in the first chapter, was in the elevator when Marie got in, and Marie lives on the third floor. Why did he get out on the second in this chapter? And why does the elevator stop at every floor sometimes, but other times not?'-As for the first thing: I'll just say that he was at his friend's house, sort of the same with the BTT. And the elevator: it's the slow elevator, sometimes it has a mind of its own. I hope that clears up any holes!**


End file.
